Fincher, The Social Network Wins DC Critics

87 Comments on this Post

Rashad

Matt H

I had a conversation with a friend of mine yesterday regarding the NBR winners in which he suggested any body that does not award Tree of Life as the best film of the year is invalidated. As I loved Hugo and as they still included Tree of Life in their list, I offered a measured defense of them. But when a body fails even to nominate it (or Malick)? I think in that case I’m on his side.

julian the emperor

Interesting slate of nominees! What immediately strikes me is a weak showing for War Horse, in particular. Interesting to note that Allen is able to sneak in for director!
A strong wave of support for Drive…(yeah!)
And it is beginning to look bad for both Close and DiCaprio, I must say. Still no recognition. I wonder if Fassbender and Swinton have now “officially” relegated the two stars…? (which pleases me immensely!)

Houstonrufus

Aaron

I love the recognition Drive has been getting…now if only Ryan Gosling can become a legitimate contender for Best Actor for his performance, then all is right in the world. That was one of my favorite performances of the year…

And I agree regarding DiCaprio and Close. It’s really not looking great for them…but I am sadistically quite fine with that if it means more recognition for Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton.

N

anthony joseph

Continue to participate in the Gurus and Gold Derby polls and play by the rules — they want you to
predict buzz, not your personal preferences.

Each week the polls are updated, do your own Sasha Stone chart on Awards Daily that mirrors the categories
of the Gurus and Gold Derby polls, but instead lists your personal preferences.

Let it be known on your site and elsewhere that you’re doing this, and I think you’ll find an appreciate
audience of people who will enjoy comparing your predictions with your preferences on a weekly basis.

Macy Kendall

Harry Potter gets named in the Top 10 list of 2011 by NBR, and now nominated for best Acting Ensemble. Is it going to be a shock nomination for the SAG Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture?

Marshall1

I’ve finally watched Bridesmaid, and I don’t find Melissa McCarthy particularly special, on the other hand, I think Rose Byrne deserves the praise for her layered performance. She’s bitchy, selfish, vulnerable, and comedic at the same time.

MikeScott

I disagree. I thought McCarthy was very worthy in Bridesmaids. Byrne was great too though, but the two best performances were from Wiig and McCarthy.

Anyway, these are some awesome picks DC! So glad to see Elizabeth Olsen and Martha Marcy May Marlene get some mentions and I love that Drive has been getting so much attention so far. It deserves it. Maybe it can actually get nominated at the Oscars.

Becca Kusy

Ashton

@Becca Kusy- I was wondering the same thing! The reviews for Young Adult have been nothing short of raves. She’s one of the only contenders in that category who has a strong performance in a strong film. Swinton would be the other one. It looks like Theron will have to battle Close for the fifth spot, although that seems silly because Theron’s performance and the film as a whole is much better than Albert Nobbs. I do hope she gets nominated. Very deserving.

Becca Kusy

Ashton- I am quite peeved that she wasn’t nominated. Have you seen Young Adult? She’s FANTASTIC in it. I love Olsen and Swinton’s respective performances, but I would have selfishly loved to see Theron get in. Hopefully that will become a reality come Oscar night.

I am thrilled to see Mara and Jones shut out. Sounds harsh, but I do think all 5 women nominated were much more deserving.

Becca Kusy

It’s worth nothing though that Michelle Williams was not nominated in this critics’ circle last year and still managed (a very WELL DESERVED) Oscar nod for BLUE VALENTINE. So there’s hope for my gal, Theron!

Evan

Alfredo

This is a great list of nominees! Disappointed with the lack of nomination for Ryan Gosling but can’t be too upset because they made up for it by nominating Drive for BP and BD also so Happy for McCarthy!! I hope she gets the much deserved Oscar nod.

Tess

Ah, my long post wasn’t submitted. Not impressed by this list. I hope the Oscar’s doesn’t mirror this but right now these nominations seem plausible according to the current momentum. I am happy about Olsen getting in and HP getting the ensemble nod.

They picked WinWin over Tree of Life and Moneyball. No Jessica Chastain?! Jonah’s best supporting actor status is weak right now. This is bad for Glenn and Leo. However, this is good for Gosling and Tilda Swinton. I can’t believe HP and TOL got snubbed for Original Score. This is also good for Shame and for some reason, I am feeling the buzz for Carey Mulligan really starting to heighten. I am NOT happy about The Help getting so many nominations.

The problem is that these smaller critics awards circles release their nominations too early. The tide might change in late Dec or Jan. Not enough people have seen War Horse yet while most of these pundits, critics, and cinemaphiles have seen The Artist and The Descendants which have the momentum. War Horse has mainly had select screenings in LA,NYC,and London so I think the traction will improve around Christmas around the time of its theatrical release.

These are just going along with the hype and zeitgeist. I hope Boston and LA shakes things up.

I expect the list of winners for The WAFCA to be fairly predictable. It will either favor The Artist or The Descendants. One of them will sweep or both of them will divide the wins. They clearly dominated the categories. I wish it would go in a different direction but it doesn’t seem like it.

Tess

Crikey, if the Oscar line-up is similar to this, with The Artist and The Descendants being the two front-runners, this will possibly the worst Oscar season for me!

My bad, Gosling didn’t get in. What the hell?! They pick Drive for Best Pic, Director but not for Actor? I can’t believe the lack of noms for Tree of Life and Moneyball. The Dangerous Method has not been getting any real traction yet and neither has Albert Nobbs, Jane Eyre, or Melancholia or Carnage. I wish Mia would make these lists.

I hope the WAFCA surprises me on Monday but these are my cliched and expected predictions for their winners. This is not what I want at all but I think are the most predictable and plausible for them to pick:

Best Pic: The Artist or The Descendants
Best Director: The Artist or The Descendants

Best Actor: Clooney
Best Actress: Meryl Streep or Viola Davis. It would be huge if Elizabeth Olsen won here. If Tilda wins this, she could be viewed as the current frontrunner with NBR not being a fluke.

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer or possibly John Hawkes. They seemed to like MMMM and I think it will win something.
Best Supporting Actress: I’m going out on a limb here and say Carey Mulligan. Or they could go Octavia Spencer.

Best Ensemble: Hugo or The Help, and my distant third pick Margin Call.

The Descendants and The Artist for screenplays, yawn.

Tintin or Poohbear.
Project Nim
Certified Copy or 13 Assassins

Hugo gets Original Score, Art Direction. Tree of Life might beat it in cinematography, otherwise Hugo will get that too.

I strongly hope Washington D.C. shocks me on Monday and jumps OFF the bandwagon.

Becca Kusy

@writing_me- She did the THR roundtable. That doesn’t really amount to much, but I agree with you in that she DESERVES to be there. Good god, she gives one of the BEST performances of the year. Whether you like her character or not… which most likely you won’t… you will ADMIRE her performance. She’s terrific! And she doesn’t have to hide behind a gallon of makeup or prosthetic like in ‘Monster’ but she truly plays a MONSTER. I think she will get nominated. I am a devoted listener of Oscar Talk on In Contention and Kris and Anne (both whom I trust) think she’s in and they even said in their recent podcast that Theron could usurp Close (which if we were basing this on performances alone, she would have been MUCH higher MUCH earlier but we have to take into consideration Close’s whole “I worked so hard to get this movie made and even though it’s crappy I am deserving of some recognition because I’m old and a respected actress” narrative).

Theron FTW!!

Becca Kusy

bebe

Ok at first I thought that Drive had no chance outside of Brooks. Now that it seemed like that some groups, abit the smaller ones, like Drive, I don’t quite understand the logic of not nominating the actor. Granted, he has some stiff competition. I am disappointing that most people seemed to write off his performance that I am starting to think it’s being underrated (lol never thought I’d say that about Gosling). Ultimately it’s Nicholas Winding Refn’s film. When people say the Driver character doesn’t do too much, he only carried the entire film. He has total control over his character in almost every aspect including his body language. Also props to him of playing against what he usually does. Ok so maybe it’s not your typical Oscar bait type of performances, but he did carry the entire film. The good thing is I don’t think he really cares.

Happy for Winding Refn, Swinton, Marty and Win Win though. Other than that, looks to me like a mostly Oscar prediction chart.

gerd

Thrilled to see that Drive get’s mentioned here and there. Ryan Goslings portrayal of Driver should be Oscar bound as well. His way of combining the silent, stoic, likable Driver with insane madness is just brilliant screen acting.

Zilko

Best list so far! Lots of Drive and noms for Fassbender, Serkis, Herdog (twice!!), I Saw the Devil and 13 Assassins please me immensely! Only things missing for me are NIck Nolte, Tom Hardy and Gosling, but would not mind if these were the Oscar nominations!!

Umpoo

TonyBiigood

Scott

“Harry Potter gets named in the Top 10 list of 2011 by NBR, and now nominated for best Acting Ensemble. Is it going to be a shock nomination for the SAG Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture?”

Why the fuck would that be a shock? *rolleyes* It has arguably deserved nominations in this category multiple times.

Cusey

Mark

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, War Horse and Moneyball seem to have lost a bit of their buzz with the lack of stronger nominations. Technically, War Horse looks great but the lack of Picture/Directing/Screenplay nods is surprising. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is only nominated for Score and Moneyball scored its predictable Actor & Screenplay nods.

Meanwhile, Midnight in Paris is getting a bit stronger with the Directing nod and Drive is definitely growing stronger. Potter is also doing very well. After the BP NBR nomination and the win for Special Achievement in Filmmaking and its DC nomination for Best Acting Ensemble, I see that it’s holding very well too.

I’m happy for Fassbender and Mulligan; they both deserve nominations and their buzz is strong right now.

Poor Glenn Close. I think that a BA nomination is not going to happen for her. Well, her performance isn’t anything special, so I’m glad, but she put so much effort in this film. Theron’s exclusion is equally surprising, this girl campaigns the shit out of her film. I’m glad to see that Swinton seems to secure the 4th or 5th spot for BA so far.

Scott

Oh BTW, I’ll jump on the Ryan Gosling bandwagon. I just saw him in Crazy, Stupid, Love and looking forward to Ides of March and Drive as well. I think I have a bit of a man crush on him, lol. Seriously though, how did he not win the Sexiest Man of the Year designation? I’m straight but I’d give anything to look like him.

Gustavo

rufussondheim

Win/Win is all script. That’s what made the movie good. I think the editing/directing didn’t do Giammatti any favors. In a couple of scenes his performance seemed “off” and that was a bit of a distraction. They probably didn’t do enough takes or chose the wrong one (it could just be an issue of time and budget.) But it was a really, really good script and that carried the movie. I wish more people would see it. It’s one of those manipulative type movies where you don’t mind it because you love the characters and you want them to be happy. I wanted to live in their world for just a little while longer.

(The movie kind of reminds me of Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom or Chuck Harbauch’s The Art of Fielding. Fallbile people you genuinely like just getting on with their lives. You can’t help but root for them and wish they were real.)

Sasha Stone

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, War Horse and Moneyball seem to have lost a bit of their buzz with the lack of stronger nominations.

From the WAFCA nods?? Give me a break. What we’re seeing this year isn’t uniformity among the critics but all over the place among the critics. It will cycle back to uniformity but not after last year.

Rattzi

Let me start off with my view of the film, I’ve been a fan of Tintin since I first saw the cartoon back in the early 90’s, though never read the comics. When I saw the credits of who wrote, produced and directed the film, you think to yourself this film is going to be awesome, there is no way with all that talent they can’t possible f**k this up (and they didn’t). You have Spielberg directing, Peter Jackson as a producer. Also the writing team great with Steven Moffat, known for Sherlock, Dr who, Coupling and another of my child hood favs, Press Gang. Finally you have Edgar Wright, who wrote and directed Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Watch The Adventures Of Tintin Online

austin111

Yay Sasha! I agree totally on this. What do these people know about anything? Their lists are all over the place. I’d like to see DiCaprio recognized but I don’t really expect it from here and Shannon is an excellent substitution if you must have just 5 mentioned. Same for Close, Moneyball, etc. I do expect it more from the Oscars. Tree of Life I think will also likely be mentioned here and there but hardly everywhere. It’s not that kind of movie. Most of the writers who call themselves critics today don’t know a whole lot about anything, just what entertains or doesn’t entertain them. They have neither the knowledge or passion for movies that should come with the territory.

Beth Stevens

There’s always some overreaction to the early critics’ awards, but as Sasha says, it’s a long season yet to come. That said, I probably should have included Win Win’s BFCA score (90) in my list. Wasn’t expecting it to be a serious screenplay contender, but now I’m rethinking that.

The Adventures of Tintin has a BFCA score of 78 so far.

micahS

I’m getting pretty discouraged about dicaprio and oldman being left out by some of these. I saw descendants last night and I saw nothing too spectacular from clooney. Maybe because he plays himself.? I was really hoping this would be dicaprio and or oldmans year to win. And why is viggo mortensen not getting much attention for Dangerous method. Here…how do you become apart of these award gigs? I’d like to join just so I could

AD

MicahS I agree with you about Viggo in ADM but he doesn’t like to campaign and sell himself ( there is a great interview with him in the NYT Magazine holiday section) where he says that much. So unless there is a little bit more traction for the movie, I can’t imagine he will show up (Sony Pics classic didn’t do that great of a campaign for ADM and his actors, I think).
I am very happy to see Tilda and Michael showing up over and over, and I hope this will mean a nom for both. I agree that Tree of Life should be there though!

Not Harrison Ford

JJ

Is it insane to consider the possibility that Harry Potter 7.2 might win best picture as an honor to what was a really lovingly made and acted franchise? As the films age, and we age, it’ll be clear how classic that ensemble was.

Puchika

Mark

Of course I’m not talking about the WAFCA nods. TGWTDT isn’t doing very well in all critics awards so far. There’s a lack of notices. These aren’t important awards (yet you do mention them, don’t you?) but they show some very general consensus. War Horse got an NBR BP nod, but I expected critics to adore it and nominate it in many more categories. And Moneyball has secured spots for Pitt and Sorkin in Lead Actor and Screenplay respectively, but I’m not convinced it will make the final BP cut. NBR snubbed it, it’s also not included in these awards and wasn’t a runner-up for Picture or Director at the NYFCC awards. I’m not saying it has lost its buzz, but it will be much tougher to get a BP nomination than what we originally thought. That’s all.

Tero Heikkinen

The Tree of Life usually gets in, but we know it’s not 100% Oscar. A Separation’s omission makes this list the stupidest yet. Even Le Havre was not among the Foreign Language nominees. What on Earth are they going to pick as the best?

I saw A Separation the other day, it is my 2nd favourite picture (after The Tree of Life) of the year. It deserves all the praise.

Glad to see Drive and Win Win getting recognition. The latter should have Paul Giamatti on the spotlight, too. It’s not only about the screenplay.

Cinemanos

Cinemanos

Scott

BTW, I respect David Fincher as much as anybody but you guys realize that a Academy Award nomination for Girl with Dragon Tattoo isn’t a very sure thing, right? Even though many feel he got screwed over last year and the AMPAS is poised to give out one of their “make-up” awards. I mean this new films seems more in the vein of Se7en, Zodiac, Fight Club, The Game, Panic Room, etc…which total all of 2 nominations (editing for Se7en and sound effects editing for Fight Club) between them. Granted his last 2 films, Benjamin Button and Social Network were both big time players…so maybe the Academy has come around but will they embrace a film that is more similar to his work of old? I’m not so sure…

Tess

You need to fix the archives and backloads on this site. I was looking for the entry about The Film Independent Spirit Awards and NYFCC awards…they are not there. There a few entries and a couple of pages missing. I put in a lot of time into those posts and I know others would not be happy about their posts being missing. I know it might be significant for the archives and to recount past entries. There are at least two pages missing, possibly a lot more. Please try to recover those entries and comments. I would sincerely appreciate this, thank you.

Tess

******I would really appreciate it, if those older entries and missing pages were recovered. They are also valuable to the award prognostication analysis and discussion.

On an added note, War Horse was screened for the W critics but they didn’t have the chance to really evaluate it and it hasn’t had the chance to cash in on the hype or buzz like the overblown The Artist or The Descendants which has had time to build up traction and be instilled in the zeitgeist. Having a screening literally a day or two before the nominations are announced is not going to have a major impact. They were already leaning in a direction before War Horse and other movies had last minute screenings in which not everybody is present. The Artist and The Descendants have had far more screenings, more Pr campaigning, and are also in theaters too.

A lot of actors claim they do not campaign but they do. I have seen Viggo do his share of PR, promotion, interviews, and etc. So bs on him claiming he doesn’t like to sell himself, he is no different from the rest. I am tired of these pretentious actors trying to act like they do not play the game when they do. Viggo did far more promotion, made more public appearances, and interviews for The Dangerous Method than Pitt did for Moneyball but because one actor gets more media attention while the other is not a media target, people have a wildly disproportionate view of who engages in more PR/campaigning/schmoozing. He certaintly campaigned for LOR and the History of Violence & Eastern Promises. Even it is not openly, they have their “people” or peers campaigning for them. However, the campaign for The Dangerous Method needs to be stronger to get traction.

Despite that criticism, I actually do want to see Viggo nominated for Best Supporting Actor because I personally feel this is the strongest performance of his that I have ever seen. I always thought he was overrated but he was astoundingly good in The Dangerous Method and he truly impressed me. I have changed my tune about him as an actor. He disappears in the role and we see a serious range of acting.

I am just disappointed with the supporting actor race so far. I really think Pitt, Viggo, Armie Hammer, Jonah Hill, Christoph Waltz, Ben Kingsley, and even Ralph Fiennes for HP should be getting way more buzz and nominations by now. What the critics circles’ have been picking with having just John Hawkes, Christopher Plummer, Corey Stoll, and Albert Brooks being nominated is just uninspired, weak, and they are making the BSA category just appear weak when it could be strong. Don’t get me wrong, I thought those guys were decent but some actors put in MUCH stronger work than that.

Like I mentioned before in The War Horse entry ( which has disappeared on this site), I think they need to campaign for acting noms. Otherwise, it will be lost in the dust except for the tech categories. Jeremy Irvine and Emily Watson are feasible nominations though Emily might be bit of a stretch but she has the body of work factor which sometimes makes up for a lack of screentime.

I will be upset if Glenn Close is snubbed for an Oscar nomination. The Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Carnage, and other movies should not be ignored! Moneyball and Tree of Life needs to be getting more acclaim.
HP needs to make the cut for me. God, I hope Rango doesn’t sweep the animated race. It better not be a two-way race between The Artist and The Descendants.

Tess

I really hope the entry about the NYFCC wins is recovered because I defended Moneyball, TOL, and Pitt’s chances against the haters. I also complimented Chastain and I know people in the industry read these blogs. There were also some big pieces about War Horse and The Dangerous Method. There are various entries that need to be restored on the site and a significant chunk is missing.

I wish the cinematography awards would be paying more attention to Harry Potter DHP2. Eduardo Sera’s achievement in photographing that film is stunning. Probably the best cinematography in a film this year I suspect. I hope AMPAS cinematography branch agrees with me on this one.

All in all, a pretty good list by these guys (who can be kind of “stodgy”).

After all, they live in WA DC – not the easiest city to get a film recognized.

The Tree of Life is sadly missing from the list.

Love the love for Tilda. Let’s keep up the momentum. She was robbed of a nomination last year in “I Am Love” and deserves a Best Actress nomination this year again for “We’ve Got To Talk About Kevin”.

Anna

Am I the only person here who’s happy to see The Skin I Live In finally getting some recognition? It’s easily one of my favorite films of the year (plus it has less than zero chances of getting any Oscar nods at this point). Love the love for Drive and the amazing Michael Shannon as well… I’m disappointed that Charlize Theron got ignored, though.

MikeScott

Where are these raves people speak of for Young Adult? I haven’t read any. While I’ve definitely seen positive reviews they aren’t at all glowing. They’re almost somewhat mixed. I do really want to see the film though. It looks good and I’ve been a fan of Theron’s since her mind-blowing performance in Monster. Still, I think it’s much more sad to see Kirsten Dunst get ignored for Melancholia. That’s the best performance of her career, IMO. Not like I was expecting her to be nominated, just hoping.